G-Prep students stretch imagination

The inside of the DestiNation Imagination team room at Gonzaga Preparatory High School looks like MacGyver met the cast of an improv comedy show and they had a wild party.

Gadgets fill every corner along with homemade stage props. There are old cupboards full of “treasures” like old cheese graters and strainers.

An old machine from a hospital sits in the corner, its insides pulled out. There are broken-down cardboard boxes, and old furniture.

And it’s all kept in the name of creativity, and a little science. The materials are used in the projects created by the DestiNation Imagination team at Gonzaga Prep.

For the second time in 16 years, the North Side Catholic high school has earned a spot in the global competition of DestiNation Imagination, which previously was known as Odyssey of the Mind.

The international event is held in Knoxville, Tenn., and includes teams of students from all over the world. The team needs about $10,000 to attend the event.

“It’s really an honor,” said student Ann Freeman, 18. “We worked really hard.”

Freeman is joined by teammates Pat Michaud, 19, Brendan Sowers, 17, Kenny Cullitan, 15, Azalyn Croft, 16, Sam Uliano, 15, and Jennie Drake, 15.

Though it’s hard to define, DestiNation Imagination – also known as DI – is a nonprofit organization that promotes creativity and teamwork through problem solving. Students compete at the local, regional and national level by creating a problem and then working to solve it using theatrics and props.

“It’s a competitive, creative problem-solving sport,” said Mike Carroll, teacher and DI adviser. “These kids are really committed and persistent.”

The students select one of seven problem-solving categories to compete in. They can’t have help from outside people. No suggestions from parents or teachers are allowed.

“If they tell us to paint our project blue, we have to paint it something else,” Freeman said.

They can spend only $125 on materials, or use what they have in storage, and they have eight minutes to present the problem and solution to judges. Performance is as much a part of the project as the problem.

“It’s a basically about how creative you can get,” Carroll said.

The project created by this year’s winning team appears to defy the law of physics that says an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. The outside force for their project is love.

The students constructed a giant storybook that tells the tale of a sad prince, who falls in love. The woman is turned into a rock, and he must battle a dragon to turn her back into a human.

The story is set in medieval times, with a magic mirror and a forest, and a squirrel with a tail made of human hair.

A device made of scrap wood and a motor from a garage-door opener appears to carry the rock over mountains. The rock is really a tennis ball with a magnet nestled inside.

The device shoots the ball at the dragon, played by Michaud.

“It’s something that challenges us,” Drake said. “It’s just a different way of thinking.”